Reverse-seaming guide for sewing-machines



(ModeL') J. W. CHAMBERS.

REVERSE SEAMING GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 257,656. Patented May 9, 1 882.

UNITED STATES" PATENT ()FFICE.

JAMES W'LGHAMBERS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

REV E RSE -SEAMING GUIDlE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 257,656, dated May 9, 1882.

Application filed February .20, 1882. (Model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES WRIGHT CHAM- BERs, of Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and Improved ReverseSeamer for Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whicht Figure 1 is a plan view of the device applied to the work-table of a sewing-machine. Fig.

i 2 is a side view, looking in the direction of the y and z z of Figs. 1 and 2.

arrowin Fig. 1; Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are crosssections, respectively, through lines a: w, y 3 Fig. 6 is a view in perspective, showing the reversed seam; Fig.

7, a correspondingview, showing the ordinary seams as are formed when two edges of material are to beunited, and one edge is folded upon one side and the other edge is folded upon the other side, so that the line of stitching passes through four thicknesses of the mabefore stitching, and without stopping the sewing-machine preparatory to starting another hag, and to sewperfectly in a straight line any distance from the edge of the'folds.

I will now proceed to describe my means for accomplishing these results.

In the drawings, A represents the table of a sewing-machine to which my device is attached, and B represents the position of the I presser-foot of the machine.

O is the base-plate or main frame of my device, which is connected to'the table of the machine by a single screw, (1. This base-plate is made in right-angular form of wide spring metal, and upon its end most remote from the screw 'a-itcarries a supporting-plate, b, to which are attached the seam-folding devices, which latter occupy a position in line with the direction of feed to the needle of the machine, and are inclined from the horizontal at an angle of about twenty degrees upwardly from the needle to the operator.

The seam-forming devices consist of a middle plate, D, an upper curved folding-lip, 'D',

a lower curved folding-lip, D an upper spring guiding-tongue, E, resting above the middle plate and betweenit and the upper curved foldirzg-lip, D, and a lower spring guidingtongt e, E, which rests beneath the middle plate and between it and thelower curved folding-lip, D The upper portionsv of the spring guiding-tongues, and also the middle plate, are made wider than the portion near the needle, and are connectedou one side by a flanged wall-plate, c, and these upper ends of theupperandlowerguide-tonguesarecurved the first upwardly and the second downwardlyfrou1 the middle plate to form tapering threats to facilitate the entrance of the two edges of the material. The curved upper and lower folding-lips commence to diverge from the plane of the middle plate at the point d, and thence toward the needle diverge farther from the middle plate, and curve around the same until at their ends they are in an approximately parallel position to the middle plate and house or close around the spring guidetongues.

It will be perceived that the distance from the point (I to the lefthand edge of the seamfed toward the needle the curved lips coinmence to fold said material at the point d, about the middle of that part of the material that has entered the threats, and take the material on the right of point (I, as shown in dotted lines, and-fold it over the top of the upper spring-tongue, bringing it gradually into parallel position as it nears the needle end ot' the folding-lip, and as'the same action is being carried on underneath the middle plate it will be seen that the two edges of material entered at the tapering throats are folded from two thicknesses in vertical direction, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 6, to four thicknesses in vertical direction, as shown in full lines, in which position the needle of the machine passes straight through all four thicknesses, making a double and reversely-folded seam. The upper and lower spring tongue-guides, it will be seen, rest in the fold or bight ot the cloth and hold it up to its place against the displacing influence of the curved folding-lips. These spring tongue-guides are perfectly free at their ends adjacent to the needle, and at their wider and upper ends are fastened to the middle plate by a bolt, 6, and filling-blocksff, interposed bctween the middle plate and said upper and lower spring tongue-guides.

F F are slotted gage-blocks, that are held in position by a screw, 7, that passes through a slot in the middle. These. blocks may be adjusted closer toor fart-herfrotn the folding-point d of the lips, so as .to increase or lessen the depth to which the material can be inserted laterally in the throats, and thereby govern or adjust the depth of the f old or lap.

To locate the line of stitching a little closer to or farther from the edge of the folded material, a slotted gage-block, h, is fixed adjustably to the machine-table by a screw, 2', at the angle of the base-plate, so as to adjust the seam-forming devices laterally.

In sewing together the bottoms of the bags it is not necessary to make the reverse seams; but the selvage-edges may be run directly together. To permit this without disconnecting the work, the table has two slots ij, formed in it, which are described by short portions of a circle struck from the center a. These slots are deepest at their left-hand ends, andtaper thence upwardly into the plane of the surface of the table. v

. On the bottom of the main plate 0 are two pins, 70 k, which, when the seam-folding devices are in the line of stitchingtrest in the deepest ends of the slots j. Now, after the side of a bag has been sewed together and the hot- I tom is reached, the work is swung to the left and the seam-forming devices are swung to the right about the center a, and the base-plate being of spring metal,the pins rise in the slots j and lift the end I of the base-plate up from the table and off to the right, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, in which position the work is thrown out of the seam-forming devices, and the two selvage edges of the work pass beneath the end I of the base-plate. The base-plate is then thrown back into the position in full lines, and the two edges are guided to the needle by the ribs m m on the under side of plate 0, which needle then only sews through two thicknesses to form the bottom seam. The ribs m, it will be perceived, are inclined to the line of stitching. This is de signed to hold the fabric up close to the pins 70 as it passes to the needle, and thus secures a uniform and sufficient depth of material from the selvage to the line of stitches.

To supplement the spring-pressure of the main plate when resting upon the top of the material, as when sewing the bottoms ofthe 'bags, a separate bearing-spring, G, is pivoted upon the screw to, and is arranged to have its end a press on the main plate to hold it more firmly upon the fabric. If desired, this spring may be removed from the main plate when the latter is to be changed in position.

If desired, my device may be used to turn both edges of the material in the same direction to form a seam such as is shown in Fig. 7. To do this it is only necessary to place both edges of the fabric above or both below the middle plate, instead of one above and the other below.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. The devices for formi n g the reversed seam, consisting ofthe combination ot'a middle plate, the upper and lower tongue spring-guides, bent at their ends to form tapering throats, and the upper and lower curved folding-lips, connected to the middle plate and diverging from its plane from a point, d, near the middle line of the throats, and curved over and inclosing the tongue spring-guides,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the machine-table having slots j, with inclined bottoms, of the right-augular-spring base-plate 0, having pins k and guide-ribs m, and connected to the machine-table by a pivot-screw, a, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the machine-table and the right-angular base-plate O, of the bearing-spring G and pivot-screw a, connecting both the said spring and the base-plate to the machine-table, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the pivoted rightangnlar plate (3, bearing the seam-folding devices, ot' the adjustable gage h, as and for the purpose described. 7 5. The combination, with the middle plate, D, the upper and lower curved lips, D and D and the upper and lower spring-tongues, E and E, of the adjustable gage F, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JAMES WRIGHT CHAMBERS. Witnesses:

GEORGE F. DANDRIDGE, MARY E. MCHALE. 

